1992 RS Hatchback.
About 2250 pounds, shooting for 2200 pounds.
I have brand new Tokico Illuminas, Skunk2 upper front control arms. Will be getting ST 19mm rear swaybar and refreshings all the bushings.
15x7 wheels with 205/50-15 Kumho XS street tires.
Used for autocrossing and track days at summit point WV, not daily driven.
What springs would you guys recommend for this setup? I searched and most folks are fitting super low springs to stock struts just for looks. This car is regularly tracked. I don’t want a spring that’s too hard on the Tokico’s (they recommend no more than 2") or that will cause me to bottom out entering the Karussel at shenandoah.
Illuminas are quite robust shocks, I used them for years and was very happy. They even handled the abuse of daily driving while being fairly low (over 3" for quite some time, then later on more like 2-2.5"). The car handled better when it was higher due to the increased suspension travel.
As for springs, I’d personally recommend come type of coilover setup opposed to lowering springs. This will give you both height adjustability and the option to tune your spring rates. Ground control is a great option here.
i think the illumina warranty is voided when you use coilover sleeves. So i am considering eibach sportlines vs h&r sports, but couldn’t find any direct comparisons here on G2IC.
I would think that any racing would also automatically void your warranty, but maybe not. Mine lasted nearly 5yrs with 550/450 spring rates and like I said, I was dumped for about half of that time.
My illuminas are still lasting and I’ve been on 3 different spring rates with the highest being 12k/10k for almost 2 years, but at a high height. Daily driving on them for almost 4 years now.
I’m using UGR sleeves which are skunk2 copies. Not sure if Hyperco offers spring perches. Check their website or do a search. I’ve done Autocrosses on the car.
I am leaning toward a GC kit, but have seen many differing opinions on spring rate. Would the standard 380/250 GC kit be too soft for street tires?
If i go custom rates, I am looking to stay in the 380-450 front range and 250-350 rear range. Matty G2 is running about 400/350 and Colin was running 550/450.
On another note, I may try running no front bar and the stock rear bar to lessen understeer and reduce weight IF i can get enough front roll stiffness that i won’t kill my outside shoulders. If not, i’ll run stock front bar and ST rear bar.
hey as some of you know i am building a k20a2 in a da for track days and some autocross events. i need some help picking my spring rate. i will be running 225 45 15 tires, front and rear camber kit ,22mm rear sway bar and a stock 23mm front sway bar. i was thing 12k front and 14k rear what do u think ??
It depends on the places where you’ll be auto crossing. Bumpy beat up lots with pot holes etc… are not fun with high stiff rates. I’d go a little softer if I knew the places I’ll be auto crossing at.
My full mods:
B16A with YS1 mated with Type R Internals + LSD
Tokico Illumina shocks at setting 4 in front and 3 in rear at auto cross events
Hyperco 400lb front, 350 lb rear springs
ST Front and Rear sway bars (24mm, 19mm rear)
ES Bushing master kit
Honda OEM Rear Trailing arm bushings
Rebuilt Steering rack (still have power steering), inner and outer tie rods were replaced, balljoints replaced
I was on Bridgestone RE-01R 195/50/15 and ran Falken Azenis RT-615 also.
Alignment at toe set at 0 -2.4 front camber -1.7 rear camber.
i road course and auto x my car as well my set up is
ST front and rear sway bars
Skunk2 Pro S2 coilovers
Skunk2 front and rear camber kit
Skunk2 lower control arms
Skunk2 lower tie bar
K-Tuned traction bar
EF civic manual rack with new integra tie rods
205/50 nitto NT01
front toe 0 rear to -0.1
front and rear camber to -2.2
and caster 1.2
on the road course i need some more power but in the auto x i can smash on most people out there…bone stock motor with 257k miles on it
I’ve driven cars with high spring rates and significantly higher rear rates, and while they may be decent on a smooth surface, they are poor handling on anything else. Also, the higher spring rates seem to make the transition from grip to oversteer and understeer much snappier.
That rear rate seems too low IMO, but your front is a good starting point. I’d start with a rear rate 50-100lbs less than your front, then as you get more seat time you can adjust as needed.
Do you have any track day experience? If noy you’re gonna be starting off with a big disadvantage with that K motor and I’d suggest running a very conservative suspension setup to start with.
[QUOTE=Colin;2295931]That rear rate seems too low IMO, but your front is a good starting point. I’d start with a rear rate 50-100lbs less than your front, then as you get more seat time you can adjust as needed.
Do you have any track day experience? If noy you’re gonna be starting off with a big disadvantage with that K motor and I’d suggest running a very conservative suspension setup to start with.[/QUOTE]
i have some but i am building this car for lapping, i want to get a ksport kit but change the spring rate or shoud i just run it with 9.5k front and 5k rear plz dont be mad at me i am open to all comment
Not mad, just trying to help if I can. I don’t know much about the Ksport coilovers and nobody I know has them. They might be OK, but my impression is that they are tuner or enthusiast type coilovers, not coilovers made for racing. That alone is enough to make me stay away from them. You’ll get this recommendation over and over and over again if you talk to Honda guys who track their cars, and that’s to go with Koni / Ground Control. It’s a proven combination and for the price you’re going to be hard pressed to find anything that performs as well. Plus, the shocks are rebuildable, and rebuildable to better specs. I’d suggest picking up a set of lightly used Koni yellows, use 'em for a couple years and then send them off to ProParts or Koni NA and have them rebuilt to the RACE valving, which will allow you to run more aggressive spring rates. It’s a great, and affordable way to “step” your way up to a more race oriented car.
Your focus right now should be getting the car finished and out on the track. You’ll see how worthless modifications are once you get out there and start driving the car. This is what my comment was about regarding the K motor. You’re going to end up with a VERY overpowered car for your ability (unless you’re just a natural) and this generally doesn’t allow for the same learning that dealing with an underpowered and more stock vehicle would give you. When I put my car together a few years back I only had 160-170whp and that was too much power for my novice abilities. I’ve since grown into that power a lot, but it’s still more power than I need and I’m still being held back by my driving more than I am by the car. The goal should be to modify the car only when you’re driving it the absolute fastest it can go and it’s the car that’s holding you back, not your driving. 98% of the people out there at track days aren’t driving their cars anywhere near how fast they can really go. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s all just for fun, but it’s something everyone should be aware of.
As I stated before, I’d go with spring rates which are about 50-100lbs different from front to rear, probably something in the 400-550lb range would be a good starting point depending on how aggressive you want to go. The 9.5k front rate you mentioned is within that range, but 5k isn’t, and it’s also a large difference from front to rear. It’s definitely a perfectly OK starting point but you’ll get more longevity out of your parts if you opt for something more like I’m suggesting. That way you won’t be buying new springs anytime soon, whereas if you run a 5k rear spring I’d guess you’ll want to upgrade that in the near future.
